According
to AAIRO
counsel
Frank
Jazzo,
“The TIS
item has
been
sent up
to the
Chairman’s
Office,”
where it
may soon
be voted
on by
the
Commissioners.
According
to Jazzo,
the
Public
Safety &
Homeland
Security
Bureau
that
crafted
the rule
changes
is
recommending
that the
Commissioners
move
forward
quickly
on the
item.
This was
confirmed
by the
Bureau
in a
conference
call
regarding
TIS on
Wednesday,
June 19.

With the
departure
of
outgoing
chairman
Julius
Genachowski
and a
second
commissioner
this
spring,
the
five-person
Commission
has only
three
members
currently,
headed
by
interim
chairperson
Mignon
Clyburn.
It is
hoped
that the
streamlined
Commission
might be
able to
move
this
non-controversial
item
into
circulation
for a
vote
promptly.

Jazzo
was told
by
sources
that the
new
rules
were
significantly
edited
in the
aftermath
of
Superstorm
Sandy
and the
Newtown
shootings.

AAIRO's
position
is that
in the
21st
century,
public
safety
and
emergency
management
officials
need the
flexibility
to
utilize
Travelers
Information
Stations
to
instruct/alert
motorists
directly,
before,
during
and
after
emergencies.
The
existing
TIS
Rules
written
in the
early
1970s do
not
address
that
need.

DALLAS,
TX:
On
October
19,
2012,
visitors
to the
Texas
State
Fair
watched
in
disbelief
as their
historic
5-story
mascot
caught
fire and
burned
before
their
eyes.
“Big
Tex,”
the
Fair’s
gargantuan
greeter
and
personified
public
address
system,
had
experienced
an
electrical
fire
that
forced
him into
early
retirement
at age
60.

The same
year,
the
State
Fair
launched
an
Information
Radio
Service
whose
parallel
job it
was to
welcome
and
inform
patrons
– though
over a
much
larger
area of
3-5
miles in
radius
(25-75
square
miles).
The 1650
kHz
signal
could be
heard
all
around
downtown
Dallas,
directing
motorists
to
available
parking
and
suggesting
efficient
travel
routes.

Now, in
2013,
the Fair
has made
their
broadcast
antenna
and
their
FCC
license
permanent,
expanding
the
operation
dates to
coincide
with
"Summer
Adventures
at Fair
Park,"
which
runs
through
August
18. The
venue
becomes
the
first
event of
its kind
to
operate
an
Information
Radio
Station
for
months
in
advance
of the
Fair,
which
doesn't
begin
until
October.

The
Texas
event
joins
the
South
Carolina
and
Kentucky
State
Fairs,
which
have
employed
Information
Radio
Stations
to
prepare
patrons
with
event
parking
and
traffic
info as
they
approach
the
state
fairgrounds.
Should
visitors
be
required
to exit
parking
lots due
to an
emergency,
the
service
can
become a
critical
conduit
for
public
safety
information
for
motorists
in
harm’s
way who
might be
required
to take
alternate
routes
or who
could
become
gridlocked
in their
vehicles.

Large
gatherings,
such as
major
golf
tournaments
and
music
festivals,
have
provided
this
service
to
visitors
in the
past and
continue
to do
so. In
June
2013,
the
Douglas
County
(Nebraska)
Department
of
Emergency
Management
employed
a
portable
Information
Radio
Station
to
inform
and
advise
30,000
visitors
at the
College
World
Series
games in
Omaha;
Allegan
County’s
Department
of
Emergency
Management
near
Grand
Rapids,
Michigan,
provides
a
similar
service
to
alleviate
traffic
congestion
at an
annual
music
festival
"bash,"
which
draws
70,000
people.
The Farm
Progress
Show in
Decatur,
Illinois,
like the
state
fairs,
will
broadcast
to its
estimated
150,000
attendees
in
August
using
the
EventCAST
Radio
Station
(rental)
provided
by Information Station Specialists.

Meanwhile,
the
Texas
State
Fair
continues
to
upgrade
and
enlarge
their
Information
Radio
Service
for
patrons.
And Big
Tex
returns
too,
this
year –
like the
Information
Station
–
keeping
guests
informed
and safe
and
providing
them an
occasional
"Howdy"
along
the way.

White
Fire
Blackens
Santa
Barbara
Hills

As
Info
Radio
Assists
Evacuation

SANTA
BARBARA
COUNTY,
CA: Two
thousand
acres
and
three
million
dollars.
That is
the
damage
estimated
to have
been
caused
by an
intense
wildfire
named
“the
white
fire”
that
burned
out of
control
near
Santa
Barbara,
California,
last
month.
An
Information
Radio
Station
has been
credited
with
informing
evacuees
and
likely
saving
lives
and
property
as
residents
lined up
to flee
the
area.

“We used
the [San
Marcos
Pass
Emergency
Radio]
SMPERS
station
in
Paradise
Canyon,
where
thousands
of
people
were
evacuated
during
this
aggressive
wind-driven
fire,”
states
Michael
Williams
of a
nearby
volunteer
fire
company
and
residents
association.
“SMPERS
was one
of the
few
sources
of
information
for many
hours,
until
the US
Forest
Service
established
their
formal
command
and the
media
set up.
In the
end, no
one was
hurt.”

Click SMPERS logo above to learn why this Information Radio Service was instituted.

According
to
Williams,
the
station
was
strategically
positioned
to serve
as an
information
source
for
motorists
who line
up on
two-lane
roads to
exit
residential
areas
when
wildfires
approach.
The
station’s
programming
can be
updated
by
telephone
or, if
lines go
down,
either
physically
or
through
a
redundant
VHF
two-way
radio
system.

Firefighting
agencies
have
turned
to
Information
Radio
Systems
in
recent
years to
apprise
the
public
of the
dangers,
status
and the
inevitable
changes
in
transportation
patterns
that
occur as
a result
of
fast-moving
wildfires.
Information Station Specialists
engineers
designed
RadioSTAT,
a
portable
version
of the
San
Marcos
Pass
radio
station
that can
be moved
out of
harms
way
and/or
ahead of
a
wildfire
as the
fire’s
footprint
on the
landscape
changes.